Many electronic devices, such as, but not limited to computers, televisions, gaming consoles, and stereo systems, utilize low-power states in order to reduce energy consumption when not in use. Low-power states are able to reduce the power consumption of the electronic devices by cutting off power to unnecessary subsystems and placing the random access memory (RAM) into a minimum power state that is just sufficient to retain its data. The state information of each subsystem is stored in the RAM. Therefore, once the electronic device is brought out of the low-power state, the device may be immediately ready for use again without having to reboot or load applications that were running before the low-power mode was initiated. Low-power states, such as the S3 Sleeping State, are described in further detail in the “Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification”, Hewlett-Packard Corp. et al., Revision 4.0a, April 2005, and incorporated herein by reference.
However, once in a low-power state, a device typically requires an affirmative tactile input to “wake up” the electronic device and return to the normal full-power state. By way of example, affirmative tactile inputs may include pressing a power button, or striking a key on a keyboard or a button on a remote control. An affirmative tactile input is needed to restore the electronic devices to their normal operating state because the processing power is greatly reduced in the low-power state. Alternative inputs, such as audio or visual cues have not been options because complex speech and gesture recognition require too many CPU cycles to function as a reliable indication of an affirmative desire to awaken the electronic device. As such, if a user wants to wake up an electronic device from a low-power state, then the user must physically touch the electronic device or a remote control for the electronic device. If the electronic device is located across the room and the remote control is lost, then the user must exert extra physical motion to move across the room in order to activate the electronic device.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for systems and methods that reduce the burden on the user by allowing electronic devices to be woken up from a low-power state with inputs that do not require physically touching the electronic device or the remote control.
It is within this context that aspects of the present disclosure arise.